Multimedia Gallery

A Collection of Multimedia Materials By and About Walker Percy

Directory

Given Walker Percy's prominence as a literary figure, ample historical video footage of him exists from reliable and professional sources. Other video has surfaced that unveils his authentic and personal character. Select a directory button to view representative materials from the following categories. All videos open in a separate window.

Video

Formal Presentations by Walker Percy

This C-SPAN video shows Walker Percy delivering his Jefferson Lecture to the National Endowment for the Humanities on May 3, 1989. The Jefferson Lecturer is the highest honor the federal government bestows upon humanities figures.

Walker Percy receives the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame at their Commencement on May 21, 1989. His address to the graduates is a useful primer for understanding his work as a novelist.

Interviews with Walker Percy

This TV show clip features Eudora Welty and Walker Percy talking about "The Southern Imagination." This video is from 1972, filmed in Jackson, MS. Buckley talks about the theme and introduces both writers. The clip primarily features Buckley and Welty talking about Southern literature.

In this short video interview clip from circa 1985 at the 50th anniversary of The Southern Review, Walker Percy talks about the dearth of publications that will publish short fiction from a young writer.

In this interview from 1986, Walker Percy talks about modern alienation as a theme in his work. He quotes Blaise Pascal: "To live is be dislocated." Even in a short segment as this one, he can raise lasting questions. The interviewer and exact date are not known.

Biographical Video & Film

The trailer for the 2010 documentary by New Orleans filmmaker Winston Riley shows the high-quality production values of the film, which is about an hour long. For more information about the film, visit http://www.walkerpercymovie.com.

Twenty-five years after Walker Percy was the Jefferson Lecturer (see above), Walter Isaacson is similarly honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2014, Isaacson, a writer and biographer (author of Steve Jobs: A Biography), reminisces about his boyhood acquaintance with Percy.

Related Mentions (Significant Parties)

In this in-depth interview with Shelby Foote on C-SPAN on September 2, 2001, Foote talks about his background, his work, and his relationship with Walker Percy. Foote wrote six novels, but most of the Q&A in the video focuses on his writing and knowledge of the Civil War. Foote mentions Percy at 6:30, 12:30 (briefly), 19:20 (their friendship), 56:30 (William Alexander Percy), 2:24:45 (writing), and 2:46:30 (religion).